Pac-12 Recap: Cal Sweeps Utah; Stanford Breaks Pool Records

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The Cal Bears rolled to wins in 13 of 14 swimming events as well as both diving events en route to a 191-100 victory over the Utes at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

After picking up a season-opening win over Pacific one week earlier, Cal turned its swimmers loose in some of their signature events to open Pac-12 competition. That showed right away as the Bears went 1-2 in the 200-yard medley relay with Daniel Carr, Carson Sand, Michael Jensen and Andrew Seliskar posting a time of 1:26.20 for the victory.

Nick Norman followed with his second 1,000 free win in as many weeks, shaving over a second off his time against Pacific by touching the wall in 9:06.42. Zheng Wen Quah earned the first of two wins on the day, taking the 200 free in 1:37.09 before coming back later in the day to lead a spirited 200 backstroke in which his time of 1:45.27 edged teammate Bryce Mefford by seven-hundreths and Carr by less than four-tenths of a second.

Carr earned a win of his own in one of his signature events, swimming to a time of 48.26 in the 100 back. Freshman Reece Whitley also added a victory, swimming to a season-best mark of 53.74 in the 100 breast. Seliskar claimed a pair of wins, taking the 200 butterfly in 1:44.26 and winning the 200 breast in 1:56.81 while Trenton Julian followed his three-win performance against Pacific by taking the 100 fly in a time of 49.54.

Junior Michael Jensen turned in a sprint free double to earn a pair of wins on the day, swimming to a time of 19.96 in the 50 free and a time of 43.81 in the 100 free.

Cal opened its dual-meet season Wednesday evening with a comfortable win over Utah, as the Golden Bears won 14 of 16 events at Spieker Aquatics Complex to complete a 184.5-111.5 final result.

Junior Abbey Weitzeil earned three individual victories by taking the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.92, the 50 freestyle in 22.28 and the 500 free in 4:54.66. She capped off her day by anchoring Cal’s 400 free relay to a winning time of 3:22.69.

The co-ed contest also served as the home opener for the Bears, who had two meets on the road to begin the year, and a trio of freshmen competing at Spieker for the first time picked up victories. Cassidy Bayer prevailed in the 200 butterfly in 1:59.00, Alicia Wilson came back a short time later to win the 200 backstroke in 1:58.08, and Elise Garcia won the 100 fly in 54.50. Freshman Ema Rajic also swam a leg on two victorious relays.

“I’ve been watching Cal swimming for about five years now, so to be able to represent the school is something that I’ve dreamed about,” Bayer said.

Sophomore Robin Neumann pulled off a difficult double for the Bears, first swimming 10:03.58 to earn the victory in the 1000 free. After a short break for the men’s 1000 free, she was right back in the water for the 200 free and touched first in 1:48.36.

Sophomore Briana Thai also claimed her two diving events, taking the 3-meter springboard with a score of 312.38 and the 1-meter with 286.28.

Stanford women top Washington State

hree Cardinal set pool records and No. 1 Stanford women’s swimming and diving capped its opening week with its second Pac-12 dual win, 169-86, over Washington State at Gibb Pool on Friday afternoon.

Stanford (2-0, 2-0) has won 25 straight dual meets, including 23 consecutive Pac-12 duals.

Pool Records
Freshman Zoe Bartel won the 100-yard breaststroke with a facility record time of 1:02.46. That broke a seven-year-old record set by USC’s Kasey Carlson in 2011, and was two seconds better than the rest of the field, which included sophomore Grace Zhao (1:04.54).

Another freshman, Taylor Ruck, captured Stanford’s second pool record of the day. Ruck raced to a finish of 23.04 in the 50 freestyle, which broke the old mark set by Cal’s Amy Bilquist in 2015.

Junior Erin Voss set the pool standard in the 200 backstroke at 1:56.58. That beat out a swim by Cal’s Elizabeth Pelton in 2015 by about a half second.

Double Winner
Sophomore Lauren Pitzer won twice with first-place finishes in the 200 free and 500 free. She topped the field with a finish of 1:49.31 in the 200, and then won the 500 with a time of 4:50.66. Freshman Morgan Tankersley was second in each of those races at 1:50.37 in the 200 and 4:54.00 in the 500.

Ruck also won two races as she claimed the 100 free in addition to the pool record. She touched the wall at 50.86. Tankersley was also second in that race with a time of 51.72.

First Win
Freshman Lucie Nordmann earned her first collegiate victory with a finish of 56.94 in the 100 butterfly.

Utah tops Colorado Mesa

In its home opener, Utah Men’s Swimming won every event and picked up the first win of the season, defeating Colorado Mesa, 111-81.

Andrew Britton, competing in his first meet at Ute Natatorium, won the 100 breast in 56.50. Rodolfo Moreira captured the 50 free in 20.61 and Montgomery took the 100 fly in 50.53

Ethan Dillard was the only multi-event winner this evening, taking the 100 back in 50.95 and the 200 IM in 1:53.14. Freshman Nick Becker cruised to a win in the 1000 free (9:39.13), while Rahiti De Vos (46.70, 100 free) and Matteo Sogne (4:41.73, 500 free) were other winners for the Utes.

Arizona sweeps Grand Canyon

he women beat GCU 204-80, while the men won 172-125. The Cats won 19 individual events and one relay. Junior Hannah Cox won three races, while freshman Monica Gumina began her collegiate career with two victories. Sophomore Brooks Fail, junior Noah Reid, senior Mackenzie Rumrill, junior Mallory Korenwinder, and sophomore Delaney Schnell won two individual events each.

Cox won the 1,000 free with 10:11.27. Cox also won the 200 free with 1:50.85 and won the 500 free with 4:56.31.

The men swept the 200 free as well, with Reid winning (1:40.68).

Bernal (56.03), won the 100 back.

Korenwinder won the 100 breast with 1:04.52 and 200 breast with 2:22.18.

Matt Salerno won the 100 breast for the men with 57.60.

The women swept the 200 fly, with Rumrill finishing first (2:03.81).

Gumina won the 50 free with 23.76. Gumina also won the 100 free with 51.90.

Georges won the 200 back with 2:04.37 for the women.

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